Guardings
37 Pierrepont Street is a building in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. Constructed in 1861, the building has served several purposes since its construction; including a residential home, dance studio, photography studio, film studio, editing suite, a restaurant, and a recording studio. From 2006 to 2014, the building was owned by New Yorker Entertainment's Kingdom Music division and was known as Guardings Studio. History '1861'–'1979: Construction and use for residential housing' The building was constructed in 1861 as a terrace/linked home composed of Italianate brownstone. Located on Pierrepont Street in Brooklyn, the building consists of five floors. Until 1979, the building was owned by several families and individuals and served as a residential home. '1979'–'1990: Sandovalez era and Fling Dance' In 1979, the building was purchased by Giancarlo "Carlo" Sandovalez, a Mexican immigrant who renovated the top four floors into a music and film studio and rennovated the basement into an apartment where he lived. In 1986, at the age of forty-one, Sandovalez was killed in a car accident. The buliding was subsequently sold to a Catholic conservative dance company named Fling Dance Corporation, which converted the top four floors into a dance facility and boarded off the basement as they feared that the basement was haunted by previous owners of the building. In October 1989, the building was broken into and the building's interior was severely damaged. Damages were predicted to be about $25,000. Fling Dance repaired the building, however following a second break-in during January 1990, Fling Dance decided that the building was a safety hazard and vacated the building in April. '1990'–'2006: Second residential housing era and Moreno Foods' The building sat vacant for several months, before being acquired by a local real-estate firm in August. In September, Zulily Photography signed a five-year lease on the building. When Zulily's lease on the building expired in 1995, they decided not to renew the lease and moved their offices to Rochester. In December, a family began renting the building. They moved out in 1999. The building served as a restauraunt owned by Moreno Foods from 1996 to 2006. '2006'–'2013: New Yorker Entertainment era' In 2006, New Yorker Entertainment signed a five-year lease with the building and renamed it Guardings Studio. The building was initially used as an editing suite, however in 2010 Guardings added a recording studio. Josh Kingston recorded his first three albums at Guardings from 2011 to 2013. In 2011, New Yorker Entertainment purchased the building from the real-estate firm. In August 2013, the President of New Yorker Entertainment announced that it would be closing three of its facilities by May 2014. In October, The Local Economic leaked court documents that revealed that New Yorker Entertainment had filed for bankruptcy protection in July. The documents stated that New Yorker Entertainment owed more than $5 million to its creditors. On 10 December, New Yorker Entertainment announced that 31 Pierrepont had been sold for $1 million to Bloom Salon. Guardings was asked by Bloom Salon's lawyers to vacate the building by 1 January. Guardings' recording equipment was uninstalled from the building on 15 December and sold to a recording studio in Florida. The "Guardings Studio" sign on the front steps was removed on 18 December.and Guardings vacated the building on 21 December. Bloom Salon took possession of 31 Pierrepont on 3 January. '2014'–'present: Bloom Salon era and lawsuit' On 9 January 2014, Bloom Salon filed a $1 million lawsuit against New Yorker Entertainment in a Manhattan federal court. The lawsuit alleged that New Yorker failed to complete rennovations that they had promised in the deal to sell the building to Bloom and had also failed to pay $160,000 in real-estate fees. New Yorker Entertainment filed a response on 30 January that stated that the company's bankruptcy protection prevented them from paying any real-estate fees over $25,000. In their response, New Yorker also claimed that they had "worked closely with personnel at Brooklyn Interior Design to complete rennovations to the satisfaction of Bloom Salon's intended floorplan". New Yorker's lawyers asked the judge to dismiss the case. During Bloom and New Yorker's first court appearance on 24 February 2014, the judge denied New Yorker's motion to dismiss the case. During a second court appearance on 25 March, New Yorker's lawyers asked the judge to move the case to an out-of-court facility however the judge denied this motion. Bloom Salon's lawyers have reportedly met with New Yorker's lawyers in an attempt to resolve the dispute. If the dispute has not been resolved by 1 May, a hearing will be scheduled for 12 June.